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Talk:Vesuvius/@comment-67.169.209.20-20140306065318
Possibilities, with a few minor thoughts hopefully not already posted... 1. Ted is dying/Alzheimer's. The reason for telling the story is that it is a *confessional*: everything that Ted ever did, good and bad, leading up to the best blessing he ever received, TM. (Alzheimer's, specifically, is a little less compelling than plain old dying because he seemed to have his *mental wits enough about him to be aware of the fact that Robin met Lily in 2030* and had conversation that involved deep context. Smoking-induced cancer is more plausible.) He sounds like Bob Saget because of whatever condition is killing him. OR 2. TM is dead. We know the ending scene was partly filmed from season 1, long before Cristin was chosen, so that *implies she could very well not be in it*. The kids aren't bored; they're in *pain* (and they do need to use the can, legit). Maybe we're one week after the funeral in 2030. The reason for the story is that *Ted is now moving on*; he is telling the story one *last* time, in all its gory detail so that the kids understand how their dad became right for TM, but this is the *last* time he will discuss it. He wants closure. I can't decide if this makes him a selfish prick or just somebody who deserves my pity--probably both. AND/OR 3. TM and Barney are both dead. Everything in possibiity 2 above, plus T/R shippers win. It would help to *explain all the focus in these stories on Robin*. The if-we're-not-married-by-40 agreement makes more sense as a *literary device*, as does the throwaway comment (in tick tick tick?) about *timing being a bitch*. The reason for the story is not only that Ted wants closure, but he is now going to move on with Robin. Note that neither possibility 1 nor 2 would leave Ted happy in the end; but C&C say that Ted is happy in the end; so this argues a smidgen for possibility 3 over 1 or 2. But it would definitely make him more of a prick and less of a pitisome wretch than in possibility 2. 4. Virginia dead. I won't dignify this with a response. 5. TM or Ted has a terminal disease in 2024 but recovers, and a nice ride into the sunset ensues. At least he'd be happy in the end. But... *why tell the story of 8+ years* to the kids? Also, possibilities 1 and 2 above help to explain the *45 days speech; possibilities 4 and 5 do not*. (Possibility 3 explains it a bit, in a Mosbius manner, but not as well as one would like.) And *why wouldn't the mother be in the final scene*, if it's a ride into the sunset scene? And if it's all going to be ok in the end, then *why all the dark imagery and allusions*, such as using The Funeral as background at Farhampton, and using Dylan's song in Vesuvius? If nobody dies, then C&C are a bunch of hacks for using all these dark literary devices without any real foreshadowing of a deeply tragic event. Do we really believe they are hacks? Of course not. Not being a T/R shipper (I don't think they were ever that great together), I guess I nonetheless find myself coming around to the notion that somebody is going to die. I wish the answer was 5, but *look at all the questions for which there seem to be no reasonable answers.* A couple years ago, even a year ago, I would not have said TM dies. So if TM dies, then this is a twist, in my book, and it would satisfy what NPH said about the ending being complicated. Though now of course I see the writing on the wall in all those old episodes; the details seem to come together. Of the possibilities 1-3, number 3 is probably the biggest twist. And of the three, it's the only one that leaves Ted happy. I guess it's most plausible right now. I can't wait for the finale.